


Of Sneaking and Scents I

by Crowgirl



Series: The Perfume 'verse [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, First Kiss, M/M, Not Beta Read, Oblivious Bucky Barnes, Perfume
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 23:59:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18271721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowgirl/pseuds/Crowgirl
Summary: ‘You seriously snuck in here to check my cologne?’





	Of Sneaking and Scents I

‘You seriously snuck in here to check my cologne?’

Bucky spins around so fast he loses his grip on the bottle and Tony has to grab it to keep it from hitting the tile. 

‘I mean, the sneaking I was expecting,’ Tony goes on, setting the bottle back in its spot on the sink, ‘but I thought it would be something a little more interesting.’

‘Like what?’

Tony shrugs. ‘Oh, I don’t know. Seeing if I need Viagra to keep up with Steve.’

‘I don’t think about your sex life, Stark, Jesus!’

Tony beams at him. ‘Whatever you say. But you _are_ in my bathroom looking for _something.’_

‘I just... I…’ Bucky grits his teeth. He’d never been good at thinking of stories on the spot; he liked to have something rehearsed, in place before he went in. Coming up with a story on the fly just led to trouble in his experience. 

‘I mean, I’m not. If that’s what you came looking for.’

‘Not ... what?’

‘Taking Viagra.’

Bucky feels himself blush, a hot rush of color over his face. ‘Jesus, Stark--’

‘That’s the second time you’ve said that. I’d’ve thought it was a little harder to get you talking to God.’ Tony arches an eyebrow and Bucky gawks at him.

‘Tony?’

‘In here,’ Tony calls without taking his eyes off Bucky and Bucky closes his eyes as if that will make him somehow invisible.

‘Hey, I -- Buck? What are you doing here?’

‘My exact question!’ Tony crows, as though Steve has just said the cleverest thing in the history of clever things.

‘Is something wrong?’ Steve's hand is warm and heavy on Bucky's shoulder and he can’t -- he just can’t -- lie to Steve’s face.

So he keeps his eyes shut and shakes his head. ‘Nope. Nothing’s wrong.’

‘So -- what are you doing?’

Bucky clenches his jaw until his molars ache and speaks so quickly the words nearly run together. ‘I wanted to know why Stark smelled so fucking good.’

There's a beat of silence, then another, then Tony starts to laugh.

He laughs and _laughs_ until Bucky has to open his eyes and sees Tony red-faced, clutching at the surround of the sink to keep himself on his feet. He glances up and Steve is visibly biting the inside of his cheek, his eyes bright with what Bucky knows damn well is suppressed laughter.

He sighs. ‘Okay, have fun, it’s stupid, I know.’

It is. It’s so stupid it's kept him awake at night trying _not_ to think about it, why Tony smells warm and spicy and kind of sweet but not _too_ sweet, not like he's wearing a woman’s perfume, but there’s clearly something more than soap and shampoo going on and sometimes Steve shows up with the same scent, a little fainter, on his skin and it drives Bucky _nuts,_ is all.

It isn't that he's _jealous._ He's not _that_ kind of asshole to be _jealous_ of his best friend being happy.

Jesus, Steve deserves all the happy he can grab with both hands and if Stark does it for him, then Bucky’s fine with that. Totally fine. Stark’s fine. More than fine: he's a decent guy, a _good_ guy, who opened a home to Bucky when he didn't have to and told the worst jokes Bucky heard outside of boot camp and made a surprisingly good cup of tea and just smelled fucking _annoyingly_ good and Bucky needed an answer to at least _one_ of those things or he was going to go nuts.

Tony finally wheezes to a stop and drags his palms over his cheeks and his mouth. ‘You are somethin’ else, Barnes, I swear to fucking God.’

Bucky rolls his eyes and tries to shrug Steve’s hand away. It doesn’t work because Steve doesn’t want it to, so Bucky resigns himself. ‘Yeah, I know, I know. Laugh it up; I deserve it.’

‘It’s not _that_ funny, Tony,’ Steve says when Tony gives into to another fit of giggles.

‘Oh, but it _so_ is.’ Tony snorts, then takes a deep breath and holds it for a minute before letting it out in a dramatic sigh. ‘Okay, okay -- I’m better now.’ He holds out his hands in an ‘I got this’ gesture. ‘I can now engage with the situation in an adult fashion.’

He reaches past Bucky and picks up the bottle, unscrewing the top and stoppering it with his index finger, then inverting the bottle. He screws the top back on and holds his hand out to Bucky as if Bucky were a cat he was trying to entice with tuna juice.

Bucky summons up his best ‘are you kidding me’ look. Stark just grins again and wiggles his fingers. ‘Go on.’

Bucky doesn’t have to do anything, he can smell the scent wafting up from Tony’s fingers: like warm laundry but better; almost like good coffee but not quite; more like sex than he’s comfortable with in this particular minute. 

‘Y’know, I honestly didn’t think it would be this,’ Tony says, his grin fading into something softer as he reaches out towards Bucky so slowly that Bucky forgets to move away and Tony’s fingers, warm under the coolness of the perfume, trace a line down his cheek, leaving scent in their wake.

‘Didn’t … what?’ Bucky’s mouth is dry and he swallows hard. The scent is _everywhere,_ warm and strong in his nose and Tony’s fingers are still on his jaw and Tony’s just _looking_ at him and he can’t, he _can’t--_

‘You can, Buck, it’s okay,’ Steve says softly, squeezing his shoulder and if Bucky weren’t stunned by the fact that he’s about to kiss Tony Stark, he’d be stunned by the feeling of Steve’s arm slipping around his shoulders, holding him steady so Tony can cup his chin and kiss him, slow and deliberate.

**Author's Note:**

> Lush's Karma. If you were curious.


End file.
